Tim Russ
Timothy Darrell Russ, better known as Tim Russ (born June 22, 1956 in Washington, DC) has portrayed different characters in various Star Trek television series and movies. However, he is best known for his portrayal as Lieutenant Commander Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager. He also directed the Voyager episode "Living Witness". Along with Jonathan Frakes, he is one of the only Star Trek actors to have appeared on-screen with four out of the five Trek series captains. (Frakes did appear in Star Trek: Generations with Kirk actor William Shatner, but he did not share any scenes with him. Russ, on the other hand, did share scenes with Shatner in this movie.) One of his favorite movies is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. One of his favorite actors is William Marshall, who happened to appear on Star Trek: The Original Series in the episode "The Ultimate Computer". Born in Washington, DC, Russ spent his childhood in a number of different places, as his father was a United States Air Force officer. He wound up graduating from high school in Turkey, earning his diploma from Rome University in New York, and receiving a B.S. in Theater Arts from St. Edward's University in Texas. He then received a full scholarship from Illinois State University, where he continued studying the theater. Russ began acting full time in 1985. In October of that year, he appeared in episodes of The Twilight Zone and Hunter (the of which he appeared in an episode with Bruce Davison, Gary Graham and Tony Plana). The following year, he made his feature film debut, playing Robert Johnson in the musical drama Crossroads. He followed this with yet another film that same year: the romantic drama Fire with Fire, starring Virginia Madsen. In 1987, Tim Russ auditioned for the role of Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation, but the part was given to LeVar Burton. However, he did win the role of D.C. Fontana in the TV movie pilot for an action series called The Highwayman that same year. The series was subsequently picked up and debuted in 1988, with Russ as a regular cast member. Unfortunately, it only lasted nine episodes before being cancelled. In the meantime, he continued to make guest appearances on such TV shows as Hill Street Blues (with Anne Haney and James B. Sikking), Jake and the Fatman (with his future Voyager co-star, Dwight Schultz), Beauty and the Beast (with Ron Perlman and Warren Munson), and Alien Nation, starring Gary Graham and Eric Pierpoint). He also made a memorable, but brief, appearance in the popular science fiction spoof ''Spaceballs'' and also made appearances in the 1987 action film Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (Marina Sirtis had appeared in Death Wish 3), the 1988 sci-fi/horror film Pulse, starring Cliff deYoung, and the 1988 drama Bird, which also featured Bill Cobbs, Hamilton Camp, and Tony Todd. Also in 1988, Russ co-starred with James Sloyan and Leigh Taylor-Young in the telefilm Who Gets the Friends? and was one of several Star Trek performers to appear in the TV special Roots: The Gift. His co-stars in this latter film included Avery Brooks (later to star as Benjamin Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), LeVar Burton (who beat Russ for the role of Geordi La Forge), and Kate Mulgrew (who would, of course, go on to co-star with Russ on Star Trek: Voyager). His work in the early 1990s includes: the TV movies The Heroes of Desert Storm (with Glenn Morshower), Journey to the Center of the Earth (with F. Murray Abraham and Carel Struycken), and Bitter Vengeance (starring Virginia Madsen); the films Eve of Destruction, Mr. Saturday Night and Dead Connection; and guest appearances on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (including one episode also guest-starring Kenneth Tigar) and episodes of the short-lived Cop Rock (starring Ronny Cox) and Tequila and Bonetti (starring Charles Rocket). He also guest-starred in an episode of Melrose Place with Casey Biggs. In 1993, he was cast in his first Star Trek role, playing Devor in the Next Generation episode "Starship Mine". He would follow this with the role of T'Kar on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine later that same year. These roles (and his appearance in the film Star Trek: Generations) would ultimately win him the role of Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager, which debuted in January of 1995. He would play the role for the next seven years. Following Voyager's end in 2001, Russ has focused on directing as well as his singing career. In 1998, he directed, co-wrote, and starred in the drama East of Hope Street, and in 2003, he directed the short film Roddenberry on Patrol, a comedic look at Gene Roddenberry's search to create Star Trek. He assigned a number of other Trek to appear in the film, including TOS stars Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig, and George Takei (who narrated) and Voyager co-stars Robert Beltran, Ethan Phillips, and Robert Picardo. Russ himself also appeared in the film. In 2005, he appeared in an episode of ER, along with Mädchen Amick and Leland Orser, and in the following year, he appeared with Star Trek: Enterprise star Connor Trinneer in an episode of NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service called "Jeopardy". He also had roles in the films The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (2005, co-starring Richard Herd and Time Winters) and The OH in Ohio (2006) and will have a recurring role on the upcoming NBC TV series 20 Good Years. Additional appearances on Star Trek Director credits * VOY: "Living Witness" Voice Acting Credits * Star Trek: Voyager - Elite Force * Star Trek: Elite Force II External Links * The Official Tim Russ Webpage * * Russ, Tim Russ, Tim Russ, Tim Russ, Tim Russ, Tim Russ, Tim de:Tim Russ es:Tim Russ fr:Tim Russ